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TRIBECA ANNOUNCES BEST NEW YORK SHORT AWARD FOR 25TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
In Celebration of Its 25th Anniversary, Tribeca Introduces a New Award Honoring New York City’s Filmmakers and Stories
Submissions Deadline February 4: https://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/submissions
NEW YORK, NY – (January 14, 2026) – As the Tribeca Festival marks its 25th anniversary, the Festival today announced a new juried shorts competition category: Best New York Short, recognizing films about New York. Created to honor the city that gave the Festival its name, spirit and creative foundation, the award celebrates the endless creativity that New York inspires and reinforces Tribeca’s long-standing commitment to celebrating short filmmaking. Best New York Short becomes Tribeca’s sixth short film award category, joining Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animated Short, Student Visionary Award, and Best Music Video.
For 25 years, Tribeca’s acclaimed Shorts program has been a launchpad for emerging filmmakers, premiering bold new voices such as Emmy® nominee David Gelb (TF ‘06, ‘11, ‘15, ‘21), Oscar nominee Ryan Coogler (TF '09), and Oscar winner Domee Shi (TF '18). With 25 total Oscar nominations and 12 wins, the program continues to shape the future of film. Most recently, six shorts from previous Festivals are shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards, including Marnie Blok’s Beyond Silence, Sam Davis’s The Singers, Julia Aks and Steve Pinder’s Jane Austen’s Period Drama, Aaron Blaise’s Snow Bear, Matteo Burani’s Playing God, and James A. Castillo’s The Quinta’s Ghost.
Last year, the Festival premiered 93 short films across narrative, documentary, animation, and music videos, marking a new high among major film festivals. The addition of the Best New York Short award builds on this momentum, deepening Tribeca’s investment in short filmmaking and celebrating the New York stories and storytellers that have shaped the Festival, sustained its community, and continue to define Tribeca as New York’s festival.
“For the past two decades the New York short film community has been the beating heart of the Tribeca festival,” said Ben Thompson VP, Shorts programming. “We have created our new Best New York Short award for the 25th anniversary of Tribeca to honor and inspire our local film community that has contributed so much to the success of the festival.”
To mark the launch of the award, Tribeca has curated New York: Shorts Slice, a selection of beloved New York shorts from past Festivals, including Brooklyn Breeze, Proof of Concept, Liza Anonymous, Sloan Hearts Neckface, Troy, Happy to Help You, and I Heart NY. Together, these films showcase a vibrant range of colorful narratives, characters, and music that serve as a love letter to New York City. The program will screen at an exclusive Tribeca Membership event on January 14, followed by a conversation with the filmmakers.
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Press Contacts:
Annie Davis – adavis@tribecafilm.com
Mia Ogle – mogle@tribecafilm.com
About Tribeca Festival:
The Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, brings artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, music, audio storytelling, games, and immersive. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is synonymous with creative expression and entertainment. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning talent, curates innovative experiences, and introduces new ideas through exclusive premieres, exhibitions, conversations, and live performances. The Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. The annual Tribeca Festival will celebrate its 25th year from June 3–14, 2026 in New York City. In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems bought a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, bringing together Rosenthal, De Niro, and Murdoch to grow the enterprise.
